Archduke Stefan of Austria

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Not to be confused with Archduke Stephen of Austria (Palatine of Hungary).
Archduke Stefan
Born (1932-08-15)15 August 1932
Mödling, Lower Austria, Austria
Died 12 November 1998(1998-11-12) (aged 66)
Brighton, Michigan, United States
Spouse
Mary Jerrine Soper
​
(m. 1954)​
Issue Archduke Christopher
Archduchess Ileana
Archduke Peter
Archduchess Constanza
Archduke Anton
Full name
Stefan von Habsburg-Lothringen
House Habsburg-Lorraiune (Tuscany branch)
Father Archduke Anton of Austria
Mother Princess Ileana of Romania

Archduke Stefan of Austria (15 August 1932 – 12 November 1998), was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and the eldest child and son of Archduke Anton of Austria and his wife Princess Ileana of Romania. A great-greatgrandson of Queen Victoria, Tsar Alexander II, Queen Maria II of Portugal, and King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States and had a career in automobile design. He was commonly referred to as Stefan Habsburg or less frequently as Stefan Habsburg-Lothringen.

Biography[edit]

Stefan was born at 3.00 a.m. on 15 August 1932 in Mödling, Austria[1][2] where his grandmother Queen Marie of Romania had rented a summer villa for her daughter's family.[3] He was baptised 30 August 1932 in the parish church of Saint Othmar in Mödling.[4][5] His mother was still recovering from the birth, so Stefan was carried to the font by his aunt Archduchess Margarita.[4] His godfather was King Alfonso XIII of Spain.[1][6] His other godfather was his uncle King Carol II of Romania who was unable to be present for the ceremony where he was represented by his sister Elisabeth, Queen of Greece.[1][4]

Stefan spent the first years of his childhood in Schloss Sonnberg, a castle owned by his father near Hollabrunn. In 1942, he moved with his parents and four sisters and brother to Romania. While there, Stefan's parents made their residence at Bran, Braşov. After his first cousin, King Michael of Romania, was forced to abdicate and was expelled by the Communist regime late in 1947, Stefan left Romania with his parents. Stefan lived first in Switzerland, then in Argentina, and finally in the United States. In the late 1950s Stefan was naturalized as a United States citizen.

Stefan attended Malvern Preparatory School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[7] In 1955 he graduated with the degree Bachelor of Science from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of MIT with a thesis entitled "'Tornado' Design of a Gas-Turbine Powered Passenger Car".[8][9] He established a division for advanced research at General Motors in Detroit, Michigan. In 1970 he received the degree Master of Business Administration from Wayne State University with a thesis entitled "People, Ideas and Environment: The Creative Problem Solving Process in a Contemporary Organization".[10][9]

Marriage and children[edit]

While a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stefan met Massachusetts School of Art student Mary Jerrine Soper (born 19 June 1931, Boston) at a dance. The couple married morganatically on 26 August 1954 at St. Elizabeth's Church in Milton, Massachusetts. Mary Jerrine Soper was the daughter of Charles Beattie Soper and wife Agnes McNeil.[2][11][12]

Stefan and Jerrine had five children:[2] Christopher (born 1957)[13][14], Ileana (born 1958), Peter (born 1959), Constanza (born 1960), and Anton (born 1964). The couple divorced in 1994.[15]

Stefan died of cancer 12 December 1998 in Brighton, Michigan.[2][9] His funeral mass was held at Saint Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Leland, Michigan with burial in the adjoining cemetery.[9] Many years after Stefan's death, Karl, Archduke of Austria de-morganaticized a number of Habsburg marriages, Stefan’s included, meaning his children acquired the title Archduchess/Archduke of Austria etc.[16]

Stefan's former wife Jerrine and the mother of his children died 14 July 2015, in Farmington Hills, Michigan.[17]

Publications[edit]

  • The Creative Attitude (Warren, Michigan: General Motors Styling Staff, [1960s]).
  • Mass and Weight Distribution in Cars: how They Are Related to Ride and Handling (Warren, Michigan: General Motors Styling, General Motors Technical Center, 1969).
  • (with Lorna Middendorf and Patrick W Dineen) "Human Factors Evaluation of Headlight Switching Systems" Technical paper / Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE-74/0998 (Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers, 1974). Paper presented at the Automobile Engineering Meeting, Toronto, Canada, October 21-25, 1974."
  • (with Lorna Middendorf) "What Really Connects in Seating Comfort?: Studies of Correlates of Static Seat Comfort", Technical paper / Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE-77/0247, (Warrendale : SAE, 1977). Paper presented at the International Automotive Engineering Congress and Exposition, Cobo Hall, Detroit, February 28-March 4, 1977.
  • (with Robert W. Veryzer) "Managing the Challenge of Design for Innovation", Design Management Journal 10 (September 1999):29-34.
  • [unpublished biography] My Three Lives[9]

Title and style[edit]

Stefan was born in Austria where the Adelsaufhebungsgesetz of 10 April 1919 had abolished the nobility and titles. In spite of this law, monarchists continued to refer to him as His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Stefan of Austria, Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, Prince of Tuscany,[18] and his archducal title was engraved onto his gravestone.[19] Even before he became an American citizen Stefan was commonly referred to as Stefan Habsburg or less frequently as Stefan Habsburg-Lothringen.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Der jüngste Habsburger geboren" [The Youngest Habsburg Born]. Freie Stimmen. Klagenfurt, Austria. 17 August 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser XVIII. Limburg an der Lahn: C. A. Starke. 2007. p. 107, 582-583. ISBN 3798008248.
  3. ↑ "Personalnachrichten". Freie Stimmen. Klagenfurt, Austria. 22 May 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Habsburger Taufe in Mödling" [Habsburg Baptism in Mödling]. Der Wiener Tag. Vienna. 31 August 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  5. ↑ "Prinzentaufe in Mödling" [Princely Baptism in Mödling]. Wiener Bilder. Vienna. 4 September 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 17 April 2022. (includes two photographs).
  6. ↑ "Exkönig Alfons von Spanien". Wiener Zeitung. Vienna. 28 August 1932. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  7. ↑ Lowry, Cynthia (14 September 1952). "U.S. Haven to Royalty in Refuge". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. p. S13.
  8. ↑ WordCat
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Abraham, Molly (19 November 1998). "Stefan Habsburg-Lothringen: Retired Engineer Was Son of Austrian Archduke". Detroit Free Press. Detroit. p. 6B.
  10. ↑ WorldCat
  11. ↑ "Mattapan Girl Weds Austrian Habsburg Heir". Daily Boston Globe. Boston. 27 August 1954. p. 2.
  12. ↑ "Stefan Habsburg Weds". New York Times. New York. 27 August 1954. p. 19.
  13. ↑ "Son to the Stefan Habsburgs". New York Times. New York. 28 January 1957. p. 27.
  14. ↑ "Royal Baby". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. 28 January 1957. p. 2.
  15. ↑ Chantal de Badts de Cugnac and Guy Coutant de Saisseval. Le Petit Gotha (2002). P 233
  16. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch. Furstliche Hauser. Band I (2015). P 199
  17. ↑ Warikoo, Niraj (18 July 2015). "Commerce Township Woman with Ties to European Royalty Dies at 84". Detroit Free Press. Detroit.
  18. ↑ Burke's Royal Families of the World. London: Burke's Peerage. 1977. p. I, 344. ISBN 0850110238.
  19. ↑ Archduke Stefan of Austria. Find a Grave

Further reading[edit]

  • Romania, Princess Ileana of (1951). I Live Again. New York: Rinehaht. His mother's biography of her early-life.
  • Dunn, Marica (5 March 1988). "The Princess Nun: From Castle to Cloister". Tampa Bay Times.
  • "Princess Ileana of Romania, who entered the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration". Agerpres. 15 January 2007.
  • Lopez, Greg (24 December 1989). "Changing of Guard Pleases Ex-Prince". Detroit News. Detroit. p. A8.
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